WILL MY DOG BECOME DOMINANT FROM BEING ON THE SOFA

Leadership and alpha roles are very real! All animals who live in groups have a Hierarchy this goes from Ants and bees all the way up to Lions and even elephants and Whales, there will always be a head/alpha/matriarch/leader etc who sets the boundaries, makes decisions and generally keeps order.
The only thing in question is weather this is established through brute force, I don’t believe this to be so. I think a calm and understanding approach is the right way, most animals you watch the leader is never involved in the silly squabbling etc and other members are not constantly fighting to be the leader , it is a simple harmonic living where each member adopts and accepts their role in a gentle way.
But they are definitely not children either that is also a very unfair way for a dog to live,  we are or should be their leaders but not in a parental format and should not be in a forceful way with unnecessary restrictions like the height they sit etc (although people may prefer not on furniture for other reasons which is a personal choice the fact of this making them alpha is bonkers). The teaching of not walking through doors and gates first as a display of dominance again is not going to work, however this is great practise for manners and indeed your dogs safety meaning they are less likely to bolt out of door or through gates on walks, I highly recommend you teach this as part of your routine. When your dog wins a game of tug of war it absolutely does not now think its the boss, likely its just thinking about playing again, tug games are brilliant bond builders no matter who wins though you do need to teach a strong release command along side this game. You should absolutely never pin your dog down in a 'submissive' position this will have absolutely no good outcome and could cause serious aggression.

Dogs are not wolves or children they are dogs they have their own role in our life and us in theirs. But isn’t the initial way for an animal to gain dominance through aggressive behaviour, force and fighting their way to the top? No it really really isn’t!
There is only one study that drew that conclusion which was a group of strange full grown wolves in a zoo type environment forced to live together, then it was established via violence and aggressive behaviour. The scientist who conducted that study has since withdrawn his finding after realising how artificial the settings were and rendering finding of ‘natural’ behaviour mute as it explained more the behaviour relating to establishing an entire new pack spontaneously rather than the dynamic of an established pack l even when taking in a new member. Even so dogs have evolved thousands of years from the ancestors they share with wolves, they have developed to live efficiently with humans and a life of fighting humans absolutely does not serve that evolutionary purpose.
I guess some people have seen, in a pack of wild wolves or dogs, a new outside potential alpha using force and aggression to over take the current alpha and are confused but this is incredibly rarely an internal pack member doing so and in all cases result in death or exile of one of the two, a very non conducive result in having a pet really.

 By following the value of using strength and force to 'assert' your self you are saying to the dog intend to now live in an unnatural constant power struggle in which you must always reinforce your dominance in a forceful way where by your dog will always be looking for a means to challenge you. This in some peoples minds backs up their theroy that dogs are always going to fight for dominance and you must always push your dominance upon him/her, when really they are living in a situation and environment entirely created by themselves acting in this manner. That seems an oddly stressful decision to make tho for a home environment. 

Equally to this all group living does need leadership and if you fail to set any boundaries or to address  any unwanted behaviour then your dog may well feel s/he needs to take this role or never understand they are doing wrong. ingnoring bad behaviour is not always the answer, for example jumping up on the sides if your dog can swipe a snack while you ignore and then also be praised for getting down then they will likely always jump up or barking at the tv then you ignore the bark and reward the stopping your dog will now likely always bark then come for a treat when they feel they are done. As with all things in life it's finding balance and harmony. You must teach right and wrong, wanted and unwanted Behaviour, you cannot only punish wrong behaviour and equally you cannot simply reward the good either it takes the right amount of marking each right and wrong in. a calm and clear way 

​

​

If you are seeing signs of your dog trying to dominate you then its either you have caused the situation by being overly forceful, you have taught the behaviour by completely ignoring bad Behaviour that should have been marked and redirected or you have been so inconsistent or aggressive   you have severely damaged your bond and relationship with your dog and have destroyed the trust it takes for animals to live in a group environment 

All of the above are repairable !!